Return
by Maya-roo
Summary: Arianna has waited for her first crush to return to her since what has felt like a lifetime. Finally, that day has come, but things don't go exactly according to plan... POV: Arianna Barde
1. Beginning

Perfect is the only way to describe him.  
His light brown hair hidden  
by a soft blue cap, his face that held all of those wonderful  
expressions, his clothing, the way he spoke in a voice not much lower  
than my own, how he was short and small, how he could light up a room  
with only the simplest of smiles...  
That's what I loved about him.  
The  
days that followed his move, he was always in my thoughts. I kept his  
image alive in my memory, sitting down and closing my eyes with a small  
smile as I remembered his laugh, his smile, the way he talked to me in  
such a caring, gentle voice.  
The moment he, my first and only crush, stepped into the car, I made a promise to myself;  
_One day I will kiss Luke Triton._  
Years  
later, I wondered how I would fulfill that promise. Luke no longer sent  
letters, and I realized with a sad thought, that he was probably more  
interested in mysteries and puzzles to remember the girl from his  
childhood, the girl from his home town. He probably had a girlfriend, I  
thought, remembering how he blushed when my lips touched his warm cheek.  
Who wouldn't love a face like that...?

As a few years past me  
by, I wondered if it was time to move on. To forget Luke Triton, to  
erase his space-consuming memories from my mind forever. But when I take  
time to watch the slow, soothing flow of the canals or take a quick  
visit to the old Triton-quarters, I know I can't bring myself to forget  
him, my first love.

But finally, years of waiting payed off. I  
remembered the old, familiar feeling of butterflies fluttering around in  
my stomach, of my heart beating fast as I finally heard his voice for  
the first time in years.  
"I'm coming home," he said.  
He was coming home.  
He was coming to me, and that's all that mattered.  
My  
heart swelled with joy, and in a delighted hurry I busied myself with  
unnecessary house cleaning and quickly telling any object that would  
listen,  
"Luke Triton is coming back!  
He's coming home!"  
And at the end of the rushed explanations, at the end of the silly cleaning, is where our story begins.


	2. Reunion

I was awoken by the weight of my younger brother and his tugging at my covers.  
"Arianna, Arianna! Get up!" Tony squealed, hopping on to me and then quickly sliding off the other side of my bed while grabbing a hold of my covers, which left me exposed to him in my night gown, shivering and blindly reaching around. "Tony! Stop that! Not all of us have to get up so early!" I complained, starting to sit up to give my younger sibling a soft glare.

Tony looked up at me with big innocent eyes. "B-But Arianna, don't you remember, today's the day when your boyfr-"  
"Shut up!" I interrupted him, throwing one of my pillows at his head. He tried to duck to avoid the pillow, but he was too slow and it ended up hitting him square in the face. Tony bent down to pick up the pillow, throwing it back at me, which I caught with both hands. "No need to get so worked up!" Tony told me, starting to walk out of my room.  
"He's not my boyfriend!" I reminded him, sitting up and calling out in a firm voice so that he could hear me loud and clearly. _Not right now, at least,_ I thought to myself as I started to dress in proper clothing.

Soon I was hurrying down the large manor stairs, careful not to slip, though. I was dressed in a decent looking blue dress, a necklace that had lost it's shine, and some shoes I wore only on special occasion. In my nervous state, I decided to dab on a bit of make up. I was determined to get that kiss out of him. I decided I had waited long enough.  
As I got down stairs, I saw Tony hadn't changed his clothes. "Tony! Get changed, right now!" I hissed, a bit of panic in my voice. He gave me a puzzled gaze, and I gestured him to hurry up and change. So he raced back upstairs, and I could soon hear the reassuring sound of a closet flying open and drawers being pushed in and out of their sockets.

I stood behind the large door, going over a greeting in my head and how I would appear. I wasn't kept waiting for long, because I heard a doorbell ring as soon as Tony was coming back downstairs. I motioned him to go back up, and he gave me a funny-looking Tony glare as he disappeared, probably back into his room. I opened the door and put on a big smile.

"Arianna! It's really you!"  
I stared at the young gentleman before me, finding it hard to to mask my surprise. He looked so much older than I remembered, and he had grown into quite a handsome young man. He was much taller, but still an inch or so shorter than I was. He was skinny, but his blue vest and white buttoned dress shirt fit him pretty much perfectly. Instead of his signature short pants, he wore long, clean brown pants.  
Beside him was another gentleman, who I immediately recognized as Professor Hershel Layton. He gave me a polite, warm smile, but my eyes were trained on Luke.  
"Luke... It's been so long!" I said, opening the door more, inviting them both in.

Luke walked in, looking very excited. His enthusiasm warmed my heart... I had started to wonder if the boy in the blue cap had forgotten me. Why had I worried? I knew Luke would come back. And he did.  
"Too long," he replied, taking a look around the manor with a joyous, nostalgic expression. I nodded agreement, then turned to the archaeology professor.

"Professor Layton, would you like anything?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward in his presence, though. Although I didn't see it with my own eyes, I was sure Luke gave Professor Layton a 'please go' look. "That's all right, Arianna. I think I'll just leave you two to catch up," he replied, saying his thanks before walking out the door.  
For a moment, we just stood there, staring into each others eyes, my blue and his brown colliding, sharing memories. Then, Luke ran up to me, hugging me. I felt my cheeks turn red and my heart seemed to skip a beat.  
"We have _so_ much to talk about!" he exclaimed as he let go of me. I felt a bit disappointed when he let me go, but I remembered what I promised myself. There would be more hugs...Hopefully.

"Where's Tony?" was the first thing he asked. "Oh, uh... I sort of sent him upstairs. I thought he might bother you," I lied. I really wanted to spend time with Luke, and only Luke. I wondered if he could read my pleading expression. _I just want you, just to talk to you,_ I thought, just in case Luke learned any sort of magic mind reading tricks. I doubted that, but it was worth a try.  
He seemed to get the message, and didn't ask about Tony any more. Instead, he turned to me, talking about memories when we were children. _What about now?_ I wondered. Truthfully, at this moment, I didn't care much about the past. I cared about the present, about what I was going to do to get this boy.

Luke had begun to talk about the Golden Garden when I interrupted him. "Luke, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but what about the present? What's happening to us right now?" I said. He gave me a confused look, and even tilted his head a little, which almost made me giggle. "What do you mean, Arianna? What about all the memories..."  
"Memories? I value memories very much," I informed him.  
"I want to start making new memories..." I said, sucking in a small, nervous breath. A bit unsure of what to do, I put my arms around his neck. I leaned in, seeing his cheeks redden. I bet mine were the same shade of crimson, if not darker.

And without any pause, I pressed my lips against his.


	3. Caught

I gave him a quicker kiss then I had planned, but I was nervous. I didn't even give him the time to kiss back. I pulled away, our eyes meeting again. I could see the surprise on his face as clear as day. Was that a bit of relief I could see in those warm brown eyes?  
My arms were still around his neck, and Luke didn't make any signals telling that he was uncomfortable.  
I continued to stare into his deep brown eyes, unsure of what to do next, and fearful of his reaction. Luke most likely thought of us as only friends, nothing more. I didn't care. During all the years he was off adventuring and solving puzzles, I had thought of him and, more importantly, thought of _us_

And that was what brought me the courage to lean in for another kiss, a kiss more passionate than the last. To my surprise and satisfaction, Luke pressed his lips against mine, and I felt that fluttering in my chest yet again. When the fluttering got so distracting that I couldn't bear it anymore, I pulled away, looking at him with a nervous gaze. He was blushing, probably much more than I was. "Arianna, I..."  
My arms retreated back to my sides and I looked at him, not sure what to say.  
Out of everything sweet and romantic I could've said, I let out a small, "I'm sorry." And sat on my couch, looking up at Luke still.  
To my surprise, he sat next to me, with an amused look on his face. "You're...sorry?" I nodded, pretending to be interested with something on my dress. "Don't be! I just...can't believe you'd try something like that." I began to play with some thread on my dress, glancing up at him for a moment to show him I was listening.

"I never could've done that. Even though I... Sort of... Like you a lot," he said, and I looked up at him, giving a small smile, feeling relieved. It worked. If I hadn't given him those two kisses, he never would've said how he felt, and neither would I. He scooted over closer to me, and the tension had pretty much disappeared. Again, I found myself lost in his brown gaze, feeling my heart flutter and me wanting more.  
Without really thinking, I hugged him, pulling myself close to him. This wasn't a friendly embrace, that was for sure.  
I could see him smile, and I grinned back, feeling as if I ruled the whole world. I had just overcome one of my biggest fears, and now I would use it to my advantage.

So we cuddle some more, kissed some more, and we found ourselves in a position where I was on my back on the couch and Luke was towering over me, his hand on my cheek. I felt like I could faint from joy when he started to lean in again, kissing me with a surprising force that I would not expect from him.  
One thing led to another and I felt his tongue pressed against my cheek. I was about to pull him closer when we both heard a creak of the front door.

I realized to late that I had made the wrong decision to keep the door unlocked.

Professor Layton stepped into the manor, watching us for a second before calling out,  
"Luke..."  
He quickly pulled away and tried to scramble into an upright position, but I guess he decided it was too late for that, so instead he just turned his head in the direction of his mentor's voice.  
There he was, walking towards the couch in his fancy clothes and big top hat. I was as red as a tomato, and I tried to look away from the professor.  
He seemed to be at lost for words, but when he finally spoke, his voice was stern.  
"Luke, now you know that is not how you treat a lady."  
Luke shifted into a sitting position, and I did too.  
Luke looked down at his shoes, and I felt sorry as I saw the shame and embarrassment in his gaze. Professor Layton didn't even seem to notice I was there. The professor never struck me as intimidating, but at this moment, I almost feared for Luke's life. As he opened his mouth to scold Luke, I spoke up.  
"Uh, excuse me, Professor, but I, uh, l-let him."

* * *

i hope you enjoyed it. c: im open to pairing suggestions, so suggest your favorite professor layton pairing! :P


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